Any plans this weekend? When we're not eating as many of the last vine-ripened tomatoes as we can (tacos! BLTs! hot melty cheese and tomato open-faced sandwiches on homemade sourdough rye! enormous salads!) we'll be spending as much time as possible outdoors enjoying this gorgeous fall weather, Joe mostly out on the big tractor bushhogging down the fields and me in the kitchen garden.
Two days ago it's like a switch was flipped and we went from hot and humid and thinking about a late afternoon swim in the river to cool and crisp and looking for a heavy long-sleeved shirt.
The nights are dipping into the low 40s, but we're still sleeping with the windows wide open. Cozy blankets, vintage quilts, slow-roasted dinners, hot cups of tea, invigorating breezes flapping all the laundry on the line, and the sounds of the first geese already heading south.
Autumn wakes us up and always seems so full of possibility. It feels completely different both outside and in our hearts. The sheep are suddenly feisty and full of energy, jumping around and playing like little kids. The kitchen beckons, and so do the woods. Firewood and flannel sheets. Pitch dark by seven o'clock. Fall has arrived. It's time to slow down and savor every minute.
© FarmgirlFare.com, the gracefully aging foodie farm blog where it's hard to believe our beloved Lucky Buddy Bear will be fourteen years old in January. His eyesight is fading, his hearing is going, and he now spends most of his time in the house, but this retired old stock dog hasn't lost his shine or his smile—and he still likes nothing better than to be surrounded by members of his feathered, furry, and wooly farm flock.
Oh, Lucky Bear, can't believe you are this old already-because I've been following Farmgirl since you just arrived! So that would make us both old! You are lucky though, I'm guessing you will get fireside privileges now and special treats and lots of love. XO, S
ReplyDeleteOh Lucky Buddy Bear, I can't bear to think of losing you, and I'm not even a member of your flock! :'-(
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you've returned to us. Your posts/pics about your critters always brings a smile to my face. I am somewhat happy fall is here also (am in a neighboring state), the summer heat made it difficult to function at times (no A/C here). But beginning to think I'm getting too old to tolerate our winters, especially the extreme cold we've been experiencing over the past few years.
ReplyDeleteIt feels like Fall here, too (Ontario). Buddy looks like he is loving the sun in his face in that picture.
ReplyDeleteI love those moments sitting on the porch swing in the afternoon sun when the leaves turn and flannel shirts and sipping hot green tea is perfect...There is something special in the feeling that you are squeezing the last drops of joy out of every minute as the world starts to tell you it is fall.
ReplyDeleteI am so with you about fall. New England had sub-tropical weather until a few days ago and then somebody turned on the switch here, too. Wondering what you are cooking with all those eggs!
ReplyDeleteI see your beautiful white roo in the background. I live in a zone 7 climate and last winter my roo with such a comb and wattles suffered (almost fatally until I brought him in) with frostbite. Wattles were so swollen and heavy he couldn't hold head up..comb gray in color..also swollen. Pain immeasurable. I think drinking water( hence wattles wet) may have been the reason...none of other 30+ hens have ever suffered such injury. They can go into hen house at night..and Reveille always did...I am very concerned about THIS winter. Coating these parts in Vaseline every day..and night? seems..unlikely?
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